Alice Gross murder: Police search area where body believed to be that of suspect Arnis Zalkalns was found

14-year-old Alice Gross (AFP PHOTO / METROPOLITAN POLICE)

Police search teams were on Sunday night scouring the park close to woodland where a body was found during the hunt for the prime suspect for the murder of Alice Gross.

The body was taken away for examination as Scotland Yard refused to confirm local reports that officers had previously searched the area a week before.

It is believed that it is the body of Arnis Zalkalns, the Latvian builder and convicted killer, and had been there for some time. “There are areas in these woods where people don’t go,” said Ingrid Zalalis, a 46-year-old finance worker who lives locally. “The police searched the park a while ago.”

A line of officers stretched across Boston Manor Park on Sunday afternoon with the public park set to be sealed off for some days as officers tried to establish the final movements of the man before he was reportedly found hanged.

The Metropolitan Police has refused to comment on whether anything was found with the body. It is likely to be several days before it can be established how long he has been dead.